Many cruise lines are offering sharply-discounted fares on Caribbean cruises over the next few months, filling spots that were originally sold for cruises to Cuban ports. One vendor, Priceline Cruises, told ThePointsGuy that “we’re seeing rates as low as $40 per day per person. We haven’t seen deals like this in a long time.”
When the Trump Administration’s ban on U.S.-based cruise ships including Cuba in their itineraries was announced in June, thousands of passengers who had booked those cruises were faced with a choice: stick with the dates and cruise to other places, or cancel and get a refund or future cruise credit. Since many reservations were by travelers more interested in Cuba than in cruising, there were suddenly lots of empty cabins.
Numbers of ships, based at several U.S. ports including Miami, had been running constant Cuba sailings, some of them weekly or more often. Their new itineraries include such cruise standbys as Key West, Nassau, Bahamas and more. If those are on your radar, it’s a good time to book.
On the other side of the ledger, the loss of cruise business has put a big dent in the Cuban economy. While the island did without U.S. visitors, by and large, during all the years of the U.S. embargo, it has ramped up facilities and employment based on the thousands of U.S. visitors added in the past three years to the Canadians and Europeans who continue to visit.
